Frida Kahlo's Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds

by Caitlin Haskell (Editor), Alive Piliado Santana (editor), Tamar Kharatishvili (editor)

Genres: Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

Published June 3, 2025

Reviews

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surrounding Frida Kahlo's exhibition in Paris (organized by Andre Breton), this book highlights her friendship with Mary Reynolds, an artist and companion of Marcel Duchamp. Little has been written about Reynolds, and after her death, her brother, Frank Brookes Hubachek, and Duchamp donated her work and archive to the Art Institute of Chicago. Examples of some of Reynold's bookbinding, some collaborations with Duchamp, are featured.

Included are short biographies of the individuals who were important to both Kahlo and Reynolds including Andre Breton, Jacqueline Lamba, Dora Maar, Nickolas Muray, Peggy Guggenheim, Man Ray, Alfred Jarry, Manuel Albarez Bravo, Jean Cocteau, and Raymond Queneau.

[Reece · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read contextualising Frida Kahlo's only visit to Europe. Amazing, considering the love the continent has for her. Despite the friends and artists she knew, she seemed to unanimously hate her time in Paris, understandable tbh...

It doesn't do much to show off Frida Kahlo's artwork, which was a bit of let down as I continued to learn about her. But I did come to appreciate Mary Reynolds and her work as a book binder.

There's better books on Kahlo's work, but this was still a good expansion on this part of her life.